NL MVP/Cy Young (03/25/15)

The Major League Baseball season will get started on April 5. The Cardinals and the Cubs will kick things off but before the first pitch we will take a quick look at the contenders for the NL MVP and Cy Young awards.

National League MVP

Giancarlo Stanton (3/1)

Stanton raked last year, leading the NL in home runs with 37. He also set career highs in RBIs (105), runs scored (89) and stolen bases (13). The Marlins' outfielder settled for second place in the MVP voting last year after missing the end of the season when he got hit in the face by a pitch. Miami's $325 million man is back with a new facemask and ready to crush baseballs again.

Bryce Harper (16/1)

Is this the year Harper finally puts it altogether? Harper was benched last year for “lack of hustle” but the Nationals wunderkind managed to overcome injuries (torn UCL in his left thumb) to hit 13 homeruns in 352 at bats.

Rizzo earned his first All-Star nod last season and finished in the top ten in NL MVP voting. The Cubs' young first baseman posted career highs across the board - .286 batting average, .386 on-base percentage, .527 slugging percentage and .913 OPS. Oh, and he hit 32 home runs while playing 20 fewer games than the year before. A full season could have Rizzo crossing the 40-home run plateau. Chicks aren't the only ones who dig the long ball, voters do too!

Player

Odds

Giancarlo Stanton

3/1

Andrew McCutchen

11/2

Jonathan Lucroy

6/1

Clayton Kershaw

7/1

Paul Goldschmidt

15/2

Yasiel Puig

10/1

Troy Tulowitzki

10/1

Adrian Gonzalez

16/1

Bryce Harper

16/1

Matt Kemp

16/1

Buster Posey

16/1

Anthony Rendon

16/1

Joey Votto

16/1

Anthony Rizzo

20/1

National League Cy Young

Clayton Kershaw (1/1)

Kershaw has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball (except for a couple rough starts against the Cardinals in the playoffs) for the last few years winning three of the last four Cy Young awards. The Dodgers ace also took home the MVP award last season becoming the first National League pitcher to accomplish the feat since Bob Gibson in 1968. But at even-money, it is hard to find value in Kershaw to repeat.

Max Scherzer (15/2)

There is a lot to like about Scherzer's chances to win the Cy Young. For starters, he already has won the award once, the 2013 AL Cy Young. Scherzer is moving from the American league to the National league so he won't face the designated hitter. He will also get to spend the majority of his time throwing against the light hitting NL East where every team except the Nats finished in the bottom half of the majors in runs scored.

Matt Harvey (25/1)

Harvey is finally healthy. The Mets ace spent all of 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery and has not made a regular season start since August 2013. All indications in spring training point to a full recovery with Harvey's fastball hitting the high 90s. Harvey finished fourth in the Cy Young voting in his breakout 2013 campaign. If you are looking for a longshot with upside you could do worse than Harvey.